ERNST NEIZVESTNY
Artist Studio. Soho, NYC
1964-2008, Bronze, 27 x 15 x 13 in, Ed 9+ AP
Ellipsis Art is an art advisory firm that provides a full range of services in art acquisition, collection management and curatorial advice.
Our mission is to create a direct dialogue between collectors and select artists and artists’ estates.
By working exclusively with artists and their estates, we create a unique opportunity for collectors to acquire art directly from artists.
ANGELICA SEMMELBAUER
ERNST NEIZVESTNY
ERNST NEIZVESTNY, born in Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg) in the Ural Mountains in 1925, to a mother of aristocratic Spanish origins and a father raised in the Ural region. He studied philosophy at Moscow State University and continued his education at the Surikov Art Institute. In 1975 with the help of Henry Moore and an American committee assembled by Ted Kennedy, Neizvestny successfully immigrated to the United States. He taught at Columbia and Harvard Universities, and was selected to be a professor of Humane Studies at Oregon University. He was a member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences, European Academy of Arts, Science and the Humanities in Paris, and the academy of Arts and Sciences in New York.
Though not accepting the title of “dissident” artist, Neizvestny was a figure that stands as one of the most important Non-Conformist artists to flourish during the Soviet era in Russia. Recognized worldwide for his monumental sculptures, Neizvestny’s significance is embroidered in the turbulent history of 20th Century Russia. From winning national competitions, including top honors for “Victory”, a memorial commemorating Russia’s triumph over Nazi Germany, to his public confrontation with Nikita Khrushchev in 1962, defending the right for free expression, Neizvestny was undoubtedly a symbol of creativity and social conscience. His figurative imagery is complex, emotional and unapologetic. The artist paralleled mythology with the constant human struggle, and created in bronze, stone and on canvas a synthesis of Machine and Man. Crossing languages and cultures, Neizvestny’s artistic achievements commemorated his vision of memory and truth, inviting his audience to respond and remember.
The artist passed away on August 9, 2016 in his home on Shelter Island, New York. His sculpture park, unparalleled in its vision and creativity, is on permanent display there.
ORPHEUS
2002, Bronze, 26 x 18 x 12 in, Ed 9+ AP
CRUCIFIX WITH DYING CENTAUR
1971-75, Bronze, 23 x 18 x 6 in, Ed 9+ AP
GROTTO MASK
1965, Bronze, 9 x 83/4 x 7 in, Ed 9+ AP
TOTEM WITH A SNAKE (POWER OF THE BEAST SERIES)
2012, Bronze, 191/2 x 101/2 x 6 in, Ed 9+ AP
WIFE OF LOT
1964-2016, Bronze, 20 x 20 x 13 in, Ed 9+ AP
GREAT CRUCIFIXION (VATICAN)
1974, Bronze, 38 x 29 x 14 in, Ed 9+ AP
SATYR (POWER OF THE BEAST SERIES)
1999, Bronze, 12 x 8 x 8 in, Ed 9+ AP
FURY (FEMALE MONSTER)
1999 Bronze, 14 x 7 x 43/4 in, Ed 9+ AP
MINOTAUR WITH KNIFE
2012, Bronze, 13 x 10 x 9 1/2 in, Ed 9+ AP
IRON PROPHET
1978, Bronze, 14 x 61/2 x 4 in, Ed 9+ AP
1958, Bronze, 14 x 7 x 4 in, Ed
DANCING ANDROGYN
2012, Bronze, 191/2 x 9 1/2 x 9 in, Ed 9+ AP
BOY BIRD
2009, Bronze, 20 x 121/2 x 81/2 in, Ed 9+ AP
ANGRY CENTAUR
1967, Bronze, 26 x 20 x 10 in, Ed 9+ AP
FACE
1974, Bronze, 12.5 x 8 x 8 in, Ed 9+ AP
DOUBLE
WOUNDED SOLDIER (WAR IS SERIES)
1958, Bronze, 7 x 4 x 5 in, Ed 9+ AP
1999, Bronze, 63/4 x 9 x 5 in, Ed 9+
2002, Bronze, 9 x 71/2 x 31/2 in, Ed 9+ AP
TOTEM ONAN
1993, Bronze, 20 x 5 x 51/2, in, Ed 9+ AP
HAND OF HELL (DANTE SERIES)
1971, Bronze, 15 x 10 x 51/2 in, Ed 9+ AP
MAN EXPANDING HIMSELF
1962, Bronze, 24 x 13 x 7 in, Ed 9+ AP
SOLDIER
BEING BAYONETTED (WAR IS
SERIES)
1955, Bronze, 7 x 5 x 3 in, Ed 9+ AP
CENTAUR WITHOUT HANDS
1999, Bronze, 28 x 34 x 221/2 in, Ed 9+ AP
1999, Bronze, 15 x 10 x 9 in, Ed 9+ AP
HEAD
GIANT
1969-72, Bronze, 14 x 7 x 5 in, Ed 9+ AP
ANDROGYNOUS CENTAUR
1992, Bronze, 15 x 9 x 6 in, Ed 9+ AP
1993, Bronze, 22 x 12 x 11 in, Ed 9+
TORSO OF HALF ROBOT
1971, Bronze, 15 x 81/2 x 5 in, Ed 9+ AP
WOMAN CHICKEN
1999, Bronze, 12 x 6 x 5 in, Ed 9+ AP
REPTILE I
1999, Bronze, 7 x 81/2 x 3 in, Ed 9+ AP
1966, Bronze, 13 x 101/2 x 6 in, Ed 9+ AP
MAN TIGER
1999, Bronze, 7 x 61/4 x 9 in, Ed 9+ AP
DIALOGUE (POWER OF THE BEAST SERIES)
1999, Bronze, 13 x 14 x 5 in, Ed 9+ AP
FEMALE MINOTAUR
1999, Bronze, 25 x 14 x 12 in, Ed 9+ AP
RAPTURE OF EUROPA
1999, Bronze, 16 x 111/2 x 71/2 in, Ed 9+ AP
METAL ANDROGYN
1989-90, Bronze, 361/2 x 16 x 12 in, Ed 9+ AP
BERTRAND DE BORN
1970, Bronze, 10 x 6 x 3 in, Ed 9+ AP
TOTEM ABRAHAM
1984, Bronze, 27 x 12 x 131/2 in, Ed 9+ AP
EXHIBITIONS
2008 Mimi Ferzt, New York, NY, USA
2000 Third Festival of Russian Art, Festivals’ Palace in Cannes, France
1999 State Tretiakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
1998 Gallery Dom Nashchokina, Moscow, Russia
Triumph Exhibition, Paris, France
1997 United Nations Palace of Nations, Geneva, Switzerland
1996 Gallery Dom Nashchokina, Moscow, Russia
Pushkin Museum of Fine Art, Moscow, Russia
1995 Jewish Museum, New York, NY, USA
Zimmerly Museum, NJ, USA
Gordona Loncar Fine Arts, PA, USA
1994 Embassy of the Russian Federation, Washington DC, USA
Morris Intern’l Festival of the Arts, NY, USA
La Quinta Sculpture Park, CA, USA
Exhibit 1022, CA, USA
1993 Russian Federation Mission to the United Nations, New York, USA
Steven’s Institute of Technology, NJ, USA
1992 Jewish Museum, Washington DC, USA
Le Monde De L’Art, Paris, France
Kunstverein Museum, Constance, West Germany
Embassy of the Russian Federation, Washington DC, USA
1991 Ergane Gallery, New York, USA
1990 Magna Galleries, New York and San Francisco, USA
1989 Nakhamkin Fine Arts, New York, USA
Magna Galleries, New York and San Francisco, USA
Connaught Brown Gallery, London, England
Galeris Clara Maria Sels, Dusseldorf, West Germany
1988 Sotheby’s Auction to benefit American Kidney Foundation, New York, USA
National Tour, Museums of Modern Art, New Republic of China (Taiwan)
1987 Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita, Kansas, USA
Eduard Nakhamkin Fine Art, New York, USA
1985 Magna Gallery, San Francisco, USA
Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York, USA
1984 Magna Gallery, San Francisco, USA
1979 Eduard Nakhamkin Fine Art, New York, USA
1978 Thielska Galleriet, Stockholm, Sweden
Lilla Galleriet, Umea, Sweden
Menzoni Galleria D’Arte, Milan, Italy
Centro D’Arte Dolomiti, Cortina, Italy
Holst halvorsens Kunsthandes, Oslo, Norway
1977
Galerie Scheidegger, Zurich, Switzerland
Galleri Astley, Uttersberg, Sweden
Stadtisches Museum, Leverkusen, West Germany
1976 Stedelijik Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Kunstverein Museum, Constance, West Germany
Parkway Focus Gallery, London, England
1975 New York Cultural Center, New York, USA
Kunstlerhaus, Austria, Vienna
Braunschweize Kunstverein, Berlin, West Germany
Kunstamit Charlottengurg, Berlin, West Germany
1974 Bochum Museum, Bochum, West Germany
1972 Museum of Modern Art, Tel Aviv, Israel
1971 Galleria Anthea, Rome, Italy
1970 Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France
Museo Belle Arti, Locarno, Italy
1969 Musee d’Art Moderne, Paris, France
Galleria d’a Barcaccia, Montecatini, Italy
Galleria Pananti, Florence, Italy
Gallery Astley, Kopping, Sweden
1966 Museum of Modern Art, Vienna, Austria
Galerie Lambert, Paris, France
Sopot-Poznan’, Poland
1965 Museum of Modern Art, Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Grosvenor Gallery, London, England
Viola Gallery, Czechoslovakia
Palais des Expositions, Geneva, Switzerland
Capek Brothers Gallery, Prague, Czechoslovakia
1962 Moscow University, Moscow, USSR
Manege Exhibition Hall, Moscow, USSR
1961 Druzhba Club, Moscow, USSR
“The Nine” exhibition, Moscow, USSR
1958 Forty years of the Komsomol exhibition, Moscow, USSR
1925 Born April 9, 1925, in Sverdlovsk in the Ural Mountains.
1939-42 Wins national competition and attends special school for artistically gifted children, first in Leningrad, then in Samarkand during WWII.
1942-45 Volunteers for service in the Soviet Arm Forces. Commissioned as airborne commando officer and sees action on Second Ukrainian front. Severely wounded in Austria on April 22, 1945, declared dead, and “posthumously” awarded the Order of the Red Star for heroism.
1945 Teaches drawing at Suvorov Institute in Sverdlovsk.
1946 Starts to study art at the Academy for Fine Arts in Riga, Latvia.
1947-54 Studies art at Surikov Institute of Art in Moscow. At the same time studies philosophy at Moscow University.
1955 Becomes a member of Sculpture Section of the Union of Soviet Artists, Moscow Branch.
In the USSR...
1954-62 Participates in youth, republic, and all-union exhibitions in Moscow.
1956 Begins work on Tree of Life project.
1957 Wins two medals at the Fourth International Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow.
1958 Begins work on his “Gigantomachia” series. “Heart of Humanity” evolves into the “Tree of Life” architectural monument to human creativity in art, science, and technology.
1959 Wins national competition for Victory war monument commemorating Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.
1962 Takes part in Manege exhibition in Moscow to mark the 30th anniversary of MOSKH (Moscow Section of the Artist’s Union). Discusses art with Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev.
1965 Wins first place in the International Dante Competition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Also takes part in a symposium: “Sculpture in Free Space”, and erects two sculptures - “Centaur” and “Stone Tears” - in Yugoslavia. Joint exhibition with Marc Chagall at Grosvenor Gallery, London.
1966 Executes 150-meter decorative relief, “Monument for All the Worlds Children” for Artek Pioneer Camp in the Crimea.
1968 Illustrates Dante’s Short Works (Moscow: Nauka, 1968). Wins international competition with design for “Lotus Blossom” monument, the largest sculpture in the world, for the Aswan Dam in Egypt.
1969 English art critic John Berger publishes: Art and Revolution; Ernst Neizvestny and the Role of the Artist in the USSR.
1970 Exhibitions at Museum of Modern Art in Paris, and Museum of Fine Arts in Locarno, Italy.
1972 Executes the 15m stainless steel sculpture “Prometheus” for Electro-72 exhibition, & exhibits in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tel-Aviv, Israel.
1974 Creates tombstone for Nikita Khrushchev at Novodevechiy Monastery in Moscow, the 970-meter decorative relief for Institute of Electronics and Technology in Moscow, and a sculptural monument “Wings” for Institute of Light Alloys in Moscow. Takes part in “Progressive Currents” exhibition at Bochum Museum in West Germany. Great Crucifixion acquired by Vatican Museum permanent collection.
1975 Designs monumental architectural facade for headquarters of Central Committee in Ashkhabad, Turkmenia. Exhibitions in Vienna, Berlin, and the Lincoln Center, New York.
After exile...
1976 Emigrates to the West and settles in Zurich, Switzerland. Completes bronze head of Dmitri Shostakovich for Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.
1977 Moves to New York City.
1982 Essay “On Synthesis in Art” published in Continent Monthly, Paris, FR.
1983 Presents “Heart of Christ” sculpture to Pope John Paul II. Begins to lecture on art and philosophy at universities in the United States.
1984 Erik Egeland’s Ernst Neizvestny, Life and Work published in Norway, Canada and the United States. First collection of essays in Russian, Govorit Neizvestnyi (Neizvestny Speaks) published.
1987 Neizvestny’s “Tree of Life” Museum opens in Uttersberg, Sweden. Essays “Body: Man as Visual Sign” and “Art and Society” published.
1988 Designs “New Statue of Liberty” honoring the New Republic of China and the Third World. Meets with Pope John Paul II and presents him with model of Statue of Liberty.
1989 Completes illustrations to Samuel Beckett’s works. Lectures on culture at Moscow State University. Commissioned to design Holocaust monument in Riga, Latvia, and memorial to victims of Stalinism in Vorkuta, USSR. Elected to full membership in European Academy of Arts, Sciences, and Humanities, Paris, France.
1990 Publishes first collection of essays in English; Space, Time, and Synthesis in Art: Essays on Art Literature, and Philosophy, in England, United States, and Canada. Commissioned to design memorials to the Victims of Stalinism in Magadan and Sverdlovsk, USSR
1992 Book of “Man’s Fate” etchings, Artist Fate, is published. Exhibition at the Jewish Museum in Washington DC. Exhibition at the Le Monde De L’Art, Paris, France. Reception given in Neizvestny’s honor by Ambassador of Russian Federation at Embassy in Washington DC. Completes work on the “Ecclesiastes” Series; exhibits them for the first time at the Embassy. Commissioned to create five meter monument, “The Golden Child” for Odessa’s 200th anniversary Jubilee.
1993 Russian version of Space, Time and Synthesis published, entitled Centaur. Exhibit held honoring the Tree of Life Peace Monument at the Russian Federation Mission to the United Nations, New York.
1994 Commissioned to create three Monuments; to the Victims of the 1964 Earthquake in Turkmanistan, to poetess Anna Akhmotova in St. Petersburg, and a monument for the Republic of Kalmikia. Exhibition of works at the new Embassy of the Russian Federation in Washington DC.
1995 “The Golden Child,” installed with opening ceremony in Odessa, May 19th. Starts work on the monument for Kalmikia. Commissioned to create a bust of President Boris Yeltsin. United Nations in New York presented with the “Tree of Life II” sculpture, given by the Government of the Russian Federation and President Yeltsin during the 50th Anniversary Assembly.
1996 Attends opening ceremony for the first monument in the Triangle of Suffering to be finished; the “Mask of Mourning”, Magadan’s Memorial to the Victims of Stalinism. Awarded the highest award for merit before the Motherland for his 70th birthday. Presented with a Government award for the Achievement in Arts by President Yeltsin during a ceremony in the Kremlin Palace. Gallery Dom Naschokina holds first one-man exhibition in Russia. Exhibition of “Ecclesiastes” Series at the Pushkin Museum of fine Arts, Moscow. Unveiling of his monument for Kalmykia “Exodus and Return” in Elista. Accepts invitation to become Cultural Advisor to President Yeltsin.
1997 Asked to create two bas reliefs; “Creation” and “Revelations” for the Cathedral of Christ The Savior in Moscow. Is the Keynote speaker at the Caux Conference for Moral ReArmament, Caux, Switzerland. The Mayor’s office in Moscow is negotiating to erect the 7 meter “Tree of Life Peace Monument” in Moscow. United Nations office in Geneva accepts the gift of the Great Centaur sculpture to be permanently exhibited on the grounds of the Palace of Nations; exhibition of works to celebrate the unveiling.
1998 Completes 7m “Tree of Life Peace Monument”. Exhibitions in Moscow and Paris. Two Carrara Marble totems are exhibited in New York City. Publishes his illustrations in Ecclesiastes, with The Black Sun of Koheleth by Yakov Kumok. Appeared in History Channel’s MODERN MARVELS, episode; MONUMENTAL STATUES.
1999 Exhibition of “Book of Job Illustrations” at the Tretiakov Gallery, Moscow. Publication of the Illustrations in Job with text by Yakov Kumok, to be a companion to the Ecclesiastes book. Starts work on a new series of sculpture, Animal Power. Was interviewed for and appeared in CNN’s COLD WAR POSTSCRIPT.
2000 Opening of the Monument “Rebirth” in central Moscow, Russia. State Tretiakov Gallery buys “War is, ...Stride” for new Modern Russian Art wing. President-elect Putin decorates Neizvestny with Medal of Honor for Artistic Achievements. Solo exhibition at The Third Festival Of Russian Art at the Festivals’ Palace in Cannes, France.
2016 Passed away August 9, Shelter Island, NY
ELLIPSIS ART FOUNDER
ANGELICA SEMMELBAUER
2004, NYU
Masters Degree, Visual Arts Administration
Published graduate thesis focused on building a sustainable global market for Russian Contemporary Art, tracing Russian art through its various historical movements, from Soviet era to the Russian Non-Conformist Movement, to discussion of today’s contemporary art in Russia.
2005 - 2014
Director of Mimi Ferzt Gallery in New York City, which specialized in Russian Non-Conformist and Contemporary Art. Organized important curatorial exhibitions of prominent Russian artists, and successfully placed them in important private and public art collections around the world.
Angelica is currently a Private Art Advisor working with a variety of artists and consulting private clients.
Catalog Design: Lisa Meta Griff, Metamorfize.com
Photo Credit: Pavel Antonov
ANGELICA SEMMELBAUER Art Advisor